King Cobra

Snakes of the world part-5


King Cobra Image courtsey: Shibu Bhaskar

The King Cobra Snake (Naja hannah, Naja bungarus, Hamadryad)

The undisputed king!

It seems that nature has given birth to this animal, with a purpose to fill the void of a king that existed in the world of snakes, and bestowed on it all that a true king should possess to rule the world with unparalleled might and courage. No one dares to question its supremacy even his peers the “ordinary cobras”. The King Cobra is fit to be a king in all respects. The word “Hamadryad is Greek meaning a nymph - which lives on a tree and dies along with the tree -adds a touch of surrealism to this animal!

Intelligent too!

Illustrations courtsey: Malcom A Smith - The Fauna of British India Vol 3

“The most intelligent of an intelligent race”; E. G. Boulenger has described this yellowish-brown king cobra or Hamadryad (Naja bungarus). It seems strange that in scientific works the name given to this animal varies from author to author whereas the name in plain English remains just the same – “King Cobra”. The most popularly used names seem to be Naja hannah and Naja bangarus. Its bite can cause death in a man within two hours, an elephant bitten on the trunk died within three hours.

A cannibal by choice!

King Cobra eating another snake Image courtsey: zoltantakacs.com

Naja hamadryad is found in Indo-China and Malaya is not just the biggest poisonous snakes in the world it is the fiercest among the venomous ones. There are records available of it growing up to 18 feet in length. The King Cobra is universally a cannibal and it has a duty in restricting the number of venomous snakes especially in some parts of Asia, they settle the problem of increase in the number of snakes simply by swallowing them! Vipers are generally avoided as the big fangs they have may cause problems when swallowed.

No spectacle!

The poison fangs are followed by three small teeth, and teeth including fangs are occasionally shed which are replaced by new ones. Eyes are of moderate size and very visible. The frontal is not truncated as in ordinary cobra. The absence of the spectacle mark on the back of the hood is a marked difference (it definitely lessens the glamour of the king to an extent!).

Not Naja naja.

The head-scales are similar to those of Naja naja, but the frontal not truncate anteriorly. A pair of large occipital shields arranged touching one to another. The cuneate scale is not present in the lower-jaw. Scales of the vertebral series are smooth and oblique and the outer two rows are larger in comparison (description courtesy Malcolm A Smith).

Up to the Himalayas!

Himalayas Image courtsey: historyforkids.org

King cobras inhabit from peninsular India to the Himalayas as well as in many parts of Indo-China sub-regions and the Andaman Islands. It has been found to live up to 6000 feet in altitude. They mainly feed upon lizards, rabbits etc but other snakes are their delicacy whether poisonous or not, no problem. There are instances where King cobras have attacked pythons and of swallowing large animals like varanus.

Builds it own nest.

King Cobra nest Image courtsey: thinkquest.org

The hemi-penis (the male reproductive organ) is fairly long and forked (a general phenomenon with snakes). Females lay about 21 to 40 eggs at a season (during April, to June) which are deposited in a “nest”. The nests are made of dry leaves and other debris and well camouflaged from onlookers. Female guard the eggs by coiling around them, male is said to be around for additional protection.

The stray princes god save them!

The young ones are black colored on the top with narrow white or yellow cross-bands. These are Chevron shaped and, pointing forwards on the front and traverse behind. With age the special coloration disappears. As it is in the case of every snake the young princes are left uncared and as soon as hatched they crawl away as if they have nothing to do with the hatching mother or the guarding father. They are the children of nature and goes in to the lap of the mother- nature either to swallow someone or to be swallowed by someone!

Snakes of the World - Part 1

Snakes of the World Part – 2. - Evolution in Snakes

Snakes of the World Part - 3. - Cobra

Snakes of the World Part - 4. - Viper

Snakes of the World Part - 5. - King Cobra

To be Continued...

Cobra Snake

Snakes of the World - Part III

Image courtsey: kidadoweb.com

Cobra. (Family; Elapidae, Genus; Naja)

Of all snakes cobra is the most glamorous one, a cobra with its fearsome hood and the “spectacle design” on the rear; is a sight that can garner fear and respect, there is no wonder cobra is worshiped in many parts of the world. About a dozen species have been known of which Africa and Asia share the most numbers. All the species of this Genus is poisonous.

Indian Cobra (Naja naja) as per Malcolm. A. Smith and (Naja tripudiens) as per E. G. Boulenger. The neck of this snake is laterally dilatable thus forming its characteristic “hood” giving it a very special status among the snakes. The bi-spectacle (binocellate) mark at the hind is most popular where as single spectacle (monocellate) is also available as in Naja kaouthia. The author may quote three instances from Hindu Mythologies to express how cobra is intertwined with human culture and mythologies.

Lord Siva is said to wear a big live cobra around his neck wherever he goes, as snakes are accepted as a symbol of virility universally the myth must be derived from that aspect Lord Siva is worshiped in the shape of phallus also adds credibility to this view.

Image courtsey: geocities.com/vadukundasivan

“Anandan” as per Hindu mythology is a gigantic cobra which has a hood in the size of a banyan tree, on which there are thousand heads, it is on his in the shade of his hood God Vishnu the Lord of the world relaxes and conducts his business!

Image courtsey: astrocaver.com

>“Kaliyan” is yet another mythological cobra which poisoned and polluted an entire river by name “Kalindi” and turned it dark-blue! “Kaliyan” used to swallow anyone who happened to get in the river; Lord Sri Krishna had a mission to execute this serpent! Krishna when he was an infant completed his mission only after performing a dance playing his flute on the hood of this fearsome giant-snake to enthrall his admirers.

Image courtsey: ruchiskitchen.com

Buddhist worship the Indian cobras as they believe these holy snakes gave shade to Sri Buddha by spreading its hood over him while Buddha slept

Cobras prefer to lay eggs on termite pits and the females volunteer the duty of protecting the eggs at this time they may be very aggressive and dangerous. At a season they lay about 40 eggs, and about sixty days to hatch. The young ones come out are golden colored and very cute but they have small fangs and poison glands. This coloration has given rise to many superstitions. These young ones are mistook for holy-serpents with divine powers Hindu mythologies and Indian folklores are rife with imaginary stories about these magical serpents!


1a. King Cobra (Naja bangarus). It is largest among venomous snakes in the world and grows up to 18 feet and mainly feed on other snakes. Its bite can kill a man within 2 hours and an elephant within 3 hours! In the London zoo the first king cobra visitor was placed along with six other cobras due to ignorance of the care-taker. In the next day for the horror of the authorities they could find only one instead of seven (6+1), the king cobra proved who he is by swallowing the other six by the night! While the king was relaxing after a sumptuous supper poor zoo authorities were tearing their hair no knowing how to report the news to the higher-ups!

Image courtsey: newton.mec.edu

King-Cobra builds its own nest for laying eggs, this is a very rare phenomenon in the family of snakes as they generally encroach the burrows of rodents for a living! The King-Cobra is devoid of the spectacle mark which is the “trade mark” of ordinary Cobras. They mate during rainy seasons and lay eggs April-May months. Generally 20 to 30 eggs are laid during a season. Guarding the eggs is the duty of the females. The young ones when hatched crawl away as if they have nothing to do with the mother!


1b. Venom Spitting Cobra (Naja Nigricollis) can spit venom in two streams to a distance of several yards and kill a victim without contacting it. It is done by the contraction of the muscles around the poison-glands. In the zoos keepers take precaution by wearing goggles when feeding these monsters! Otherwise they will have to pay with their eye-sight for the oversight. Fortunately these venom “spitters” are found only in Africa!


There are numerous folk tales about these wonderful snakes which could not be included for the sake of brevity

Snakes of the World - Part 1

Snakes of the World Part – 2. - Evolution in Snakes

Snakes of the World Part - 3. - Cobra

Snakes of the World Part - 4. - Viper

Snakes of the World Part - 5. - King Cobra

To be continued...